This project is one of the most interesting projects I have been involved with for the label. The music is truly engrossing, beautiful, mysterious and sounds amazing! It is also one of the more difficult projects on the label to describe. The title was chosen during a conversation with organetto player Christophe Deslignes` mother, whom upon first hearing the music, exclaimed it to be ?out of time and country? Being French, she of course chose her words in her own unique way, but it made perfect sense to everyone in the project who initially had no idea what exactly I had gotten them into.

What we have here is a quartet of creative musicians from two distinct cultures (Sweden and France) who approach their instruments with total freedom and a profound musical knowledge.

Susanne is a contemporary master of Swedish Folk Singing, or ?Sï¿½ng? in her language. I do not know how to go about describing the feeling I get when hearing this type of singing; usually this is not possible anyway, but I hope you can sense its deep and mysterious beauty. I suppose it might be easier to understand if one understood how life was in the Swedish countryside during the last few centuries. Susanne is also a master of ?Kulning? which is the traditional way that Swedish shepherd women used to call their cows, from far away, of course. You cannot imagine what it sounds like, but let me tell you that it is LOUD! Kulning cannot be heard on this recording, but Susanne`s approach to the voice here is very much folk oriented, especially when singing in Swedish. Susanne is also the head of the Folk Music Department of the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm.

From France, Christophe Deslignes` forte is medieval music; his instrument of choice, the ?organetto? a small portable organ which he plays on his lap. The melody is played with the right hand, while the left hand works to expand and contract the bellows. Christophe is one of the very few people who play this instrument and he is a true master.

I met Christophe during the same trip to France that I met Rroma Brass Band ?Formatia Valea Mare?, although there is no connection whatsoever with their music. I had gone to Paris to promote MA at the ?France Musique? Music Fair and Christophe was there with percussionist Thierry Gomar. I think we all may have gone for a pizza one night after a long day of exhibiting?. We stayed in touch over the years and finally, in 2007, I contacted Christophe to see if he was interested in doing something for MA.

Thierry Gomar`s focus lies in two main areas, medieval percussion and mallet instruments, particularly Marimba and Vibraphone. On this record, he plays frame drums, ghatam clay drum, darbugas and various bells. Thierry also teaches percussion at the conservatory in Narbonne, France.

Viola player Jean-Lou Descampes is a long time friend and cohort of both Christophes and Thierry, particularly in the group Milenarium. On this record he also plays tambura which is the equivalent of the Greek Bouzuki and Turkish Saz.

Susanne brought songs and hymns from Sweden and other Scandanavian areas, while Christophe and Jean-Lou suggested songs from the French Medieval tradition. Susanne translated the French lyrics into Swedish, or adapted other lyrics to the French melodies and sang them as if they were Swedish Folk, blurring the lines between Northern and Southern European musical traditions. There is also Gregorian Chant and music by Hildegard von Bingen. Moreover, there are purely instrumental tracks on which Christophe, Jean-Lou and Thierry shine, three of which are free improvisations.

To summarize, we have:

1) Swedish folk songs accompanied by Medieval French instruments

2) French Medieval songs, translated into Swedish, accompanied by Medieval French instruments

3) Gregorian music

4) Medieval French tunes and free improvisations, all on Medieval French instruments

The project was recorded (as usual) with MA`s own custom made omni-directional microphones on the amazing Korg MR-1000 portable DSD recorder at the incredible sampling rate of 5.6 MHz